TOKYO —

Skull-themed fashion attracting Tokyo youngsters

TOKYO —
Legwear and T-shirts bearing images of human skulls have become popular in Tokyo as many youngsters regard the token of death as ‘‘cute’’ or as something symbolizing the love of delinquency.
   
Popular model Tsubasa Masuwaka is an icon leading the trend. She produced a series of socks with skull images and other legwear with the brand ‘‘S-Leg’’ for Fukusuke Corp, Japan’s major sock and underwear maker.
   
Fukusuke has sold more than 30,000 pairs of socks including those with skull images every month since launching the brand in March, aimed largely at teenage girls and women in their early 20s. The socks were priced at around 500-1,000 yen a pair.
   
A Fukusuke spokesperson said it was rare for the company to see products with a new brand selling that well and that it is willing to release a new ‘‘skull’’ series in the fall and winter.
   
Masuwaka said the skull image that some might find scary does not discourage young people from buying the socks.
   
‘‘Some skull-themed socks look very cute depending on their design…The skull image is a fashionable sign, like a heart,’’ she said.
   
Skull images have also appealed to men. The casual men’s brand Jackrose has sold more than 1,000 T-shirts embroidered with a skull and crossbones on the back every month since its launch in March, ach priced at 7,245 yen.
   
A salesperson at Jackrose’s shop in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district said young men prefer shirts with a skull image as it gives them an air of aggression or roguishness.
   
The brand is aimed at attracting men in their 20s but skull-themed shirts also draw those in their 30s, the spokesperson said.
Source:http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/skull-themed-fashion-attracting-tokyo-youngsters